This day was all about Ambassadors seeing first-hand the effects of litter and pollution on life in our waterways.
The day started off with watching the crew from the City of Casey empty the litter trap behind Endeavour Hills shopping centre. They heard from Cr Rosalie Crestani how special the area is and how much it’s valued by the council, and then Andrew Clifton from Rocla explained how the litter trap worked.
Following on from this, our Ambassadors headed down to Frog Hollow Reserve where they greeted by glorious mud. Due to recent rains the oval was wet and slippery, meaning a gift of dirty, damp socks for some lucky Ambassadors. The afternoon was divided between three activities – water-testing, invertebrates found in the creek and planting with Ray.
Water-testing helped Ambassadors understand the effect water health has on marine life and why it is important to regularly survey the quality of our waterways. Ambassadors also observed how water tests are completed. Using water samples from the shallows of the creek, Ambassadors then used ID sheets to distinguish a number of invertebrates found living on the water’s edge including damselflies, amphipods and mayflies.
The final activity was planting with Ray and Steve from the environment committee in Casey. Here Ambassadors were shown how to choose a good spot, use a borer and they then planted nearly 200 native grasses, shrubs and river red gums. This is a great addition to the revegetation and a legacy for the future.
Many thanks to Adrian Verkerk and the crew for making the litter trap part happen, Cr Crestani and Andrew Clifton for generously giving their time to come along, and also Steve and Ray for organizing the plants and working with the students.
Cranbourne West students Jenna, Ela, Enrique and Phoenix and teacher, Sharon Start, were so inspired by the day that they went back to school, put a collage together of the day and wrote a song called I sea I care, all about why we need to look after our oceans. You can download it here! We look forward to hearing the song at the end of year awards in November. Well done!
